JOHOR BARU: The family of Supt Ahmad Bustamin Baharom, who was among five injured in a police helicopter crash at Sungai Pulai during a mock nuclear training exercise yesterday, is relieved that he is on track for recovery.
Following the accident on Thursday (July 10), his 82-year-old father, Baharum Mohammed, and mother, Che Ma Abu Bakar, 75, set off from their home in Alor Setar, Kedah at 10pm and arrived at Hospital Sultanah Aminah (HSA) around 8am to visit him.
"Before the exercise, he called me and said he was about to board the helicopter. Then we both prayed for his safety.
"Not long after, I was shocked to receive a call from the authorities that the helicopter my son was in had crashed into the water," said Baharum when met after visiting his son at the hospital on Friday (July 11).
He added that despite the chaos of the crash, his 46-year-old son managed to get out of the submerged helicopter before help arrived.
"The police informed us that my son was the first one to be rescued from the water. Some of the victims were unconscious during the incident.
"We are thankful that he remained conscious throughout and was able to speak to us when we visited," he said, adding that Supt Ahmad sustained injuries to his back, including fractured ribs and facial swelling.
Baharom, a retired school principal, said Supt Ahmad is his second out of five children, and he has four children of his own, aged nine to 16.
Earlier, Bukit Aman Air Operations Force Deputy Commander (Operations) Senior Asst Comm Ahmad Lokman Abdul Hadi visited the victims at around 10am, followed by Iskandar Puteri OCPD Asst Comm M. Kumarasan about an hour later.
On Thursday, the Eurocopter AS3555 Ecureuil crashed about 21m from the jetty while performing an exercise attended by personnel from Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand.
Two senior police officers with the rank of Assistant Commissioner and Superintendent, along with three other personnel, were sent to Hospital Sultanah Aminah shortly after the 10.25am incident.
